


Last Day on the Islands

by Palizinha



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, it's late Days so suicide warnings for Xion's thoughts are probably needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10017266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palizinha/pseuds/Palizinha
Summary: On Day 356, before Xion talks to Naminé and fights Axel, she has a conversation with somebody else.





	

There were rumours, from Selphie, Wakka and Tidus, that someone in a black coat went to the play island sometimes. Kairi hadn't set foot there since she realized there was a boy missing from her memories. It had been a promise she made when looking at a drawing of herself in the secret place and feeling like it was missing somebody.

That didn't mean she wasn't curious about who this person in a black coat was supposed to be, however. Something, somehow, told her they were related to the Boy.

It was why the moment she saw a black coat in the main island from afar, she approached them. They had spiky brown hair, but they were too far away to make out anything more than that.

They seemed to be looking for something in the water.

Kairi stood close and stopped, the spiky brown hair making her heart stop from up close. Her mouth went dry, and she felt the Boy's name on the tip of her tongue, but it wouldn't come. It had to be him, right?

"You..." Kairi stopped talking. It was hard to say anything, and she didn't quite know what to say either.

What do you tell someone who means the world to you, even if you cannot remember the first thing about them?

But Kairi's voice got a reaction out of the person wearing a black coat. They got up from their spot crouched down while pulling up their hood.

"I-I'm looking for a seashell," the voice was feminine, and Kairi felt her whole body deflating. That didn't sound like the Boy would, she could say that for certain somehow.

The voice was still somewhat familiar, however, though Kairi couldn't quite figure out why.

The girl was nervous, playing with her hands as she likely looked at Kairi from beneath the hood.

"There are plenty of seashells around here," Kairi pointed out. There were a couple discarded next to the girl, but it seemed she was looking for a specific one.

"Y-yeah," the girl nodded, her hood momentarily showing her mouth, but not much else. "I'm looking for a... I think the name is thalassa shell? I couldn't find one in the other island, so I came to this one."

Kairi couldn't quite figure out what the girl's behavior was all about, but being around her somehow made her feel closer to the Boy, and her memories of him. "I'll help you find one."

The girl nodded with a small squeal and the two searched the water for a thalassa shell.

After searching for a bit, Kairi found one, pink and yellow. She took it in her hand and waved at the girl.

"Thank you!" The girl said, taking the offered seashell from Kairi.

"What's the story with the seashell thing, anyway?" Kairi asked, too curious about who that girl was, and how she related to the Boy, to want her to leave just yet. "I'm Kairi, by the way."

The girl hesitated. "You can call me Xion. My friend and I have made a habit of giving seashells to each other, when one is going through a hard time. The first one I ever gave him was a thalassa shell, so I wanted..."

She didn't finish talking, and Kairi found herself fearing what she would have said next.

Everything about that situation screamed that there was something wrong, and it wasn't just because Xion was obviously not from this world.

"I'm sure your friend will appreciate it when you give the seashell to him," Kairi said, just in order to dispel the weird mood that started after Xion trailed off.

 

* * *

 

Xion smiled sadly beneath the hood. She wouldn't be the one giving that seashell to Roxas, not really. Naminé would know what to do, but before she gave her life up for Sora, she'd ask Naminé to take care of Roxas, and hand her the seashell to give to him.

If what she had found in Vexen's research on memory was right, then the moment she gave Sora's memories back, she'd be breaking her own chain of memories and no one would remember her. She still hoped, somehow, that receiving that seashell would make Roxas at least have an inkling of her existence left behind.

It was a feeble hope, but hope nonetheless.

"I'm sure he will appreciate the gift, yeah," she wasn't, but Kairi was talking to her, and she had dreamed of Kairi for so long. Kairi, the most important of Sora's memories, and the girl she saw whenever she slept and whenever she looked on the mirror.

It made her want the conversation to keep going, even though she knew she should go to Naminé. She should have already gone, but she spent the whole time since talking to Riku after leaving the Organization again on Destiny Islands. Stalling.

"Um, Kairi, do you usually go to the play island? I don't remember seeing you there, and I've gone quite often," that had been something confusing, to Xion. She had so many memories of herself - of Sora, that is - with Kairi and Riku on the play island, but Kairi had been nowhere to be seen the whole year.

"I used to. But I promised I wouldn't until I remembered the Boy," Kairi seemed intense when saying that, and the intensity almost made Xion stumble.

Sora. Kairi wouldn't go to the play island until she remembered Sora. But how could she even know there was someone to remember? Xion had most of Sora’s memories by this point, and she definitely had all of Sora’s memories of Kairi. There should be nothing left for Kairi to remember.

Then how could she? Was the connection between them just that strong?

“The boy?”

“We’re friends. He’s very special to me. I can’t remember his name or… anything, but I just know. There is no way I could ever completely forget him, you know? And I need him, so I need to remember,” Kairi seemed glad to be talking about it. Xion imagined most people on the Islands told her Sora had never existed, so talking to an outsider meant Kairi had freedom to speak of him without being called delusional, or anything.

“You… need him,” Xion repeated. She had known that. Riku needed Sora. The worlds needed Sora too, and he was the only one who could defeat Xemnas. It was why she had accepted that she and Roxas needed to cease to exist in order for Sora to return. But accepting it was different from actually doing so. Kairi saying that made it seem more important, somehow.

“More than anything.”

Xion nodded, more to herself than to Kairi. She put the seashell still in her hand on her pocket and decided it was time to stop stalling.

“I always wanted to meet you, Kairi,” Xion said in lieu of a goodbye, and created a corridor of darkness, leaving a somewhat baffled Kairi behind.

With a sigh, Xion walked into Twilight Town’s mansion.


End file.
